On Sat, Jul 15, 2006 at 08:53:39PM +0000, Phillip Bigelow scripsit:
[snip]
> Sadly, in _T. rex_'s case, the animals usually died only a few years
> after they first experience the "wonders of procreation". Not to
> mention having to endure the hassle of being attacked and beaten up on
> a nearly daily basis after you reach adulthood.
The other thing this does is make a hash out of pack-forming; the
breeding pair doesn't last long enough to raise their own offspring, so
how does the pack form?
Currie, et al., still have pretty good evidence of pack behaviour in
Albertosaurs, with juveniles and sexually mature individuals in the same
group.
Did Albertosaurs have a different growth cycle? Were tyranosaurine
sibling bonds exceptionally strong? Strong enough to work over several
years worth of siblings, so that the oldest had the help of their
younger siblings in managing to breed? Were tyrannosaurine packs
accreted on a basis of purely social bonds?
I have no idea how to answer those questions, but I sure hope someone
does.
-- Graydon